St. Nicholas Monastery Church (; ) is the

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

of the abandoned Orthodox monastery of Saint George in

Mesopotam Mesopotam ( sq-definite, Mesopotami; - ''Mesopotamos'') is a village and a former commune in Vlorë County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Finiq. The population at the 2011 cens ...

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; ) is one of the 12 counties of Albania with the city of Vlorë being the county capital. The county spans and has a total population of 146,681 people as of 2023. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastër, as well as th ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Community celebration at Mesopotam Monastery

History

The monastery is thought to have been built in 1224 or 1225. It was once enclosed by a circular wall which is today only partly preserved. Its double

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

makes it unique in its genre, and it is thought of as this was due to the monastery being used by two religious rites (Catholic and Orthodox). The monastery was

stauropegion A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from , in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the Primate (bishop), primate or on the Holy Sy ...

and as such directly dependent to the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

. As stauropegion it was also free of the jurisdiction of the local bishopric. During the early 14th century the bishop of nearby Chimara (modern Himara) tried to impose his authority but this resulted to his expulsion from the see. When John Glykys has been elected Patriarch he issued a decree confirming the privileged status of the Mesopotamon monastery. The Orthodox monastery was built on the walls of a much older temple. An Albanian Heritage Foundation team, directed by architect Reshat Gega, conducted research on the monastery, performing excavations and restoration over a period of 20 years. Evidence the team found included Hellenic stones from the 3rd-4th centuries BC, confirming the connection with the capital of the Epirote League at

Phoenice Phoenice or Phoenike () was an ancient Greek city in Epirus and capital of the Chaonians.: "To the north the Chaonians had expelled the Corcyraeans from their holdings on the mainland and built fortifications at Buthrotum, Kalivo and Kara-Ali- ...

(modern Finik) located 3 km from the monastery. One of the decorative stones bears the inscription "Menelau", presumed to be a reference to the Spartan King

Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; ) was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central ...

whose brother

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

led the assault during the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

. The nearby area includes the ancient site of

Buthrotum Butrint (, , ) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city and the seat of an early Christian bishopric in Epirus. Originally a settlement of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, it later became part of the state of Epirus and later a Roman ...

which the Roman writer

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

says was founded by Trojan descendants of

Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; , ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology Most scholars take the e ...

, who settled in the area after the

. The original openings in the temple walls have been used as either alcoves or windows by the builders of the monastery. An accompanying photograph shows such an alcove with an icon of the Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of the monastery. It is designated as a

Cultural Monument of Albania In Albania, a cultural monument () is a construction or work of cultural, historical and artistic value that is built in a visible space, made in memory of important events or prominent people. Cultural monuments are usually under state protection ...

and is a protected heritage site, although the church and temple building is in need of restoration, held against collapse with wooden props and scaffolding.

Name

As is immediately evident to speakers of Greek "Agios Nikolaos", Serbian "Sveti Nikola", and the Albanian "Shën Kollit" are the same saint, anglicised to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. Saint Nicholas was contemporary with

Saint Spyridon Spyridon, also Spyridon of Tremithus (Greek: ; c. 270 – 348), is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. Life Spyridon was born in Assia, in Cyprus. He worked as a shepherd and was known for his great piety. ...

, the patron saint of the island of Corfu, that lies 20 km west of Mesopotam. Bishops Nicholas and Spyridon both attended the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

in the year 325. The bodies of both saints were "rescued" and sent by ship to Italy during the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453. The Corfiots successfully petitioned for the body of Saint Spyridon to be relocated to the capital of Corfu. The remains of

are revered at Bari's great Basilica di San Nicola Italy, in Venice and at Myra in Turkey.

The Dragon Icons

The temple walls contain several legendary icons including a lion, a serpent dragon with a knot in its tail, and a serpent dragon with its tail coiled around its neck and back. :The following information may be co-incidental. ::(a) the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

refers to

as "the Lion" and numerous Roman and Greek authors write that

Laocoön Laocoön (; , , gen.: ) is a figure in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoön is a Troy, Trojan priest. He and his two young sons are attacked by giant serpents sent by the gods when Laocoön argued against bri ...

, the priest of Troy and his two sons were strangled by a pair of serpent dragons. ::(b) The site of

Butrint Butrint (, , ) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city and the seat of an early Christian bishopric in Epirus. Originally a settlement of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, it later became part of the state of Epirus and later a Roman ...

(Roman

) has a great gate, referred to as the Lion Gate, whose headstone depicts a bull, possibly

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, being wrestled to the ground by a lion - possibly

. ::(c) In 297 BC, the occupants of Butrint and the builders of the temple walls forming Mesopotam Monastery were neighbors. ::(d) According to the Roman writer Virgil, Butrint's legendary founder was the seer

Helenus In Greek mythology, Helenus (; , ''Helenos'', ) was a gentle and clever seer. He was also a Trojan prince as the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and the twin brother of the prophetess Cassandra. Mythology Early years In the ...

, a son of king

of Troy, who moved West after the fall of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

with Neoptolemus and his concubine

Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "m ...

Access

Saint Nicholas the patron saint of Mesopotam Monastery

The monastery site is normally closed with fencing and locked gates, but the Papas of the modern Orthodox church in Mespotam has the keys and visits can be arranged if planned and coordinated in advance. In May each year the community of Mesopotam village hold an "open day" and "festival" to celebrate Saint Nicholas's "saint's day" at the site of the monastery.

References

{{Religious Cultural Monuments in Vlorë County Cultural Monuments of Albania Buildings and structures in Finiq 13th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Byzantine church buildings in Albania Churches in Vlorë County

History

Name

The Dragon Icons

Access

See also

References